Rare "Duck-Billed" Dinosaur Fossil Discovered in Morocco Puzzles Scientists

Another paleontological discovery made in Morocco that brings new knowledge about the evolution of life on Earth. This time, it is a hadrosaur - Ajnabia odysseus-, or "duck-billed dinosaur", whose remains (teeth and a jaw) found in Sidi Chenane south of Khouribga, date back some 66 million years, reports CNN.

It is known that North America, South America, Asia and Europe were the areas where this species evolved. But the case of Africa is worrying scientists, as this continent was then isolated from the others by waterways.

"It’s like finding a kangaroo in Scotland," says Dr. Nicholas Longrich of the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath in the UK, who led the study published in the journal Cretaceous Research. "It was impossible to walk to Africa at that time. These dinosaurs evolved long after the continental drift had divided the continents, and we have no evidence of the existence of land bridges," the scientist points out.

How did this terrestrial dinosaur manage to reach Morocco? Two hypotheses try to answer this: either these dinosaurs were able to swim hundreds of kilometers to reach the continent, or they used a floating debris (a tree trunk) to drift to Africa. And the question remains: how could this mass that could measure up to three meters and have a powerful tail move?